‘Iron Man 3’ Director Shane Black Doesn’t Regret Mandarin Twist

The infamous Mandarin twist in Iron Man 3 didn’t sit too well with many fans who were looking forward to seeing the supervillain going up against the titular character, but that didn’t stop the movie from becoming a box office smash. However, Marvel Studios later released a one-shot titled All Hail the King which revealed that there is indeed a real Mandarin somewhere in the cinematic universe, but we just haven’t met him yet.

In a recent interview with IGN, writer and director Shane Black explained why he made the decision to move forward with the divisive twist in the movie and what he thinks made it so disappointing for many fans of the character:

We may have done our job a bit too well in a way because we succeeded in actually having a surprise in the middle of a big summer movie where you normally know virtually everything about it before you go in. And when I say we did our job too well it meant some of the fans felt fooled. They felt I think that they’d been led down one path and then sold a bill of goods. It’s hard. Because I want to please the fans… But in this case I thought – and we all thought – that it was just a very interesting and very layered decision to take the Mandarin [in].

When asked whether or not he’d make the same decision again if he had another shot at making the movie the director had an interesting response:

Of course not. The minute you start to govern your creative impulses based on anticipation of someone else’s response or their expectations, then you’re going to fail. You’re going to fail them, too. Because you’re not going to surprise anybody – you’re going to be busy second-guessing what other people want and indulging that people-pleasing side of yourself.

I have to agree with Black here, but I also have to admit that I personally enjoyed the twist while watching the movie for the very first time. What about you guys? Were you disappointed when the Mandarin’s real identity was revealed or did you not even care that much about it? Let us know in the comment section below.